It was the end of an era as Aberdeen’s only five-star hotel hosted its last ball at the weekend.
Sir Alex Ferguson, Denis Law and Elaine C Smith were among 280-guests who partied the night away at the Marcliffe at Pitfodels.
The event – dubbed The Last Ball – took place on Saturday, raising a staggering £28,000 for two cancer charities.
Although the North Deeside Road hotel will continue to trade until the end of March, it will not offer any ballroom functions in its remaining months.
Over the past 21 years, a host of celebrities and VIPs have graced the rooms and corridors of the Marcliffe, since it was opened by former Soviet president Mikhail Gorbachev in 1993, including members of the royal family, Rod Stewart, Meatloaf, Charlton Heston and Margaret Thatcher.
Last night, proprietor Stewart Spence said funds raised at Saturday’s ball took the sum donated to charity by the hotel alone, in the past 21 years, beyond the £1million mark.
However, with around 30 charity events traditionally hosted at the venue each year, Mr Spence said the overall sum raised within the hotel’s walls would run into tens of millions.
Tickets for the event, which were priced at £200 each, sold quickly after the hotel wrote to all those who regularly attend the Marcliffe’s annual Hogmanay ball.
Half the ticket money – £28,000 – was split between the Teenage Cancer Trust and Cancer Research UK.
Mr Spence said it had been a “wonderful night”.
“Really it was like an early Hogmanay for all these people because, obviously, we are not doing Hogmanay this year.
“It was a fantastic night. We had this group called the London Essentials and the Magic of Motown, who are such a good band.
“From the minute the band struck up, the dance floor was packed.”
Mr Spence, who retires when the Marcliffe closes, admitted emotions had run high on the night.
He said: “I have been looking after functions for 46 years – I love my functions, I just love them.
“I was standing there thinking, ‘I have done thousands over the past 46 years, it seems funny not to be doing any more’.
“But it was a good night – we went out with a bang.”
Talking about retirement, he said: “I have never not worked for the past 53 years so it will take a bit of getting used to but I’m sure I will manage.
“At least I have plenty to do.”
Mr Spence said the hotel had been very fortunate to have built up such a “great clientele” over the years.
He also said he was proud to have raised standards in catering at functions over the years.
“We tried to elevate the quality of the food being served at functions – it was something we set out to do and have succeeded in,” he said.
“That is why we became the number one function venue in the north-east.
“That is one thing I am really pleased about.”
The Stewart Milne Group is behind plans to build executive apartments after earlier plans tabled by Gibson McCartney Ltd for a £90million office complex were withdrawn.
The scheme is expected to incorporate high-end executive apartments as well as family homes after the current Marcliffe building is demolished.